Thursday, 1 November 2012

Some other Chessexpress's

When I set up this blog, my first thought was to call it '64 Squares'. But (IIRC) that name was already taken, so I chose 'Chessexpress' instead, as it contained one obvious tie-in (my surname), as well as a couple of others (eg the double meaning for 'express'). There was even an unintended bonus a couple of years later, when a Canberra Times sub-editor decided to break the title of the blog in 'ches' and 'sexpress' in an Ian Rogers chess column.
But it is kind of an obvious name, so it is no surprise that their are other 'Chessexpress' sites on the web. The one that I was aware of very early on was a chess retailer from the US, www.chessexpress.com. As far as I know they have no problem with the title of this blog, as we have co-existed for a number of years.
Oddly enough there is not one, but two Chessexpress websites in Canada. There is 'The Chess Express' which is a junior coaching organisation involving Hal Bond, who is a friend of mine from various Olympiads. There is also 'Chess Express Ratings' which is a commercial rating organisation in Canada. As far as I know the two are not connected.
And finally, there is even a chess event that carries the Chess Express name. It is the 'Trans Europe Chess Express' and fittingly it is organised by Deutsche Bahn AG (German Railways). This years event was held inside the Potsdam Railway station, and attracted a strong field including Karpov, Short, Timman and Huebner.

(NB I do not necessarily endorse any of the commercial sites listed in this post)